European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ford cited the relatively poor Quality of the cars made there As a Factor in closing its 25-year-old Plant at Maywah . Pics to help them improve their productivity. I Dan t want people to work harder. I want them to work smarter says w. Edward Deming 79 year old consultant who works with both japanese and american companies on improving productivity. When he studies a company. Doming says he typically finds thai 15 percent of the problems arc whal he Calls local  involving a worker or a specific machine. The other 85 percent belong to the system which Only management can Correct he says. Deming is convinced the japanese arc doing a belter Job of boosting productivity partly because managers there work More cooperatively with their employees. In this country the management system is to blame the workers for  he says. Not surprisingly there arc a number of studies show ing that workers tend to produce More when there is something in it for them often through a profit sharing program. Otherwise workers can conclude that the goal is to increase the company s profits at the expense of jobs. The National Center for economic alternatives a think tank headed by economist Gar Alp Crovi Points to the productivity problem As a reason to increase worker ownership rather than giving tax Breaks to corporations. Whatever the causes of the productivity lags the num Bers Are Likely to get better soon. Productivity usually expands dramatically at the end of a recession As production Raics faster than employment. But in recent recessions those rebounds hate been growing less Impre i a and Many economists think the new rebound will be Only a Small one. If so it will re focus attention on what Steps the United Stales needs to take to maintain its productivity Lead. If adequate Steps Are not taken. So a Thomas a. Murphy the chairman of general motors we Are going to Wake up in the 1990s and find ourselves a third rate mud Zirul  tember 8, 1980 the stars and stripes Pago 15